The Aviation Pondering's of Daniel Houe Sorensen

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The Wonder of Flight

Imagine this: You are at an outside BBQ with your friends on a beautiful day. The food is great, and you are conversing with a close friend. Then you hear the faint sound of a Lycoming humming along from high above. Your eyes drift skyward and you crane your neck to catch a glimpse of the craft above.

Over the East Shore of Lake Tahoe looking Northwest.

Scanning the skies, you finally spot the aircraft. You have forgotten the conversation you were just having and your mind is only focused on the airplane overhead. You try to figure out the model and type and wish you could be up there with them. The plane flies off into the horizon and you once again turn your attention to the terrestrial world. Your friends are frustrated because you clearly did not pay attention to them and found the speck in the sky more interesting… But, they will never understand what possesses us aviation geeks to scan the skies every time an airplane passes above us, to drive slowly by airports hoping to catch a glimpse of a landing or departing airplane, or simply daydreaming of flying.

Leonardo Da Vinci, who unfortunately never got to experience flight, summed it up very nicely: “For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.” Flying myself in a little 172, or flying with a large commercial airliner, the wonders of flight will never leave me. I can spend a long flight simply staring out of the window, even when crossing an ocean. Men have always earned to soar like the birds, and that is a fully realized dream in today’s world.